Yoni Pizer, Illinois House 12th District Democratic candidate profile

Candidate profile

Yoni Pizer

Running for: State Representative 12th District

Political/civic background: Congressman Mike Quigley’s Community Liaison

Occupation: Community Liaison for Congressman Mike Quigley. Real estate agent and Co-founder and Vice President of the Brad Lippitz real estate group.

Education: UW Madison (Economics and Integrated Liberal Studies), MBA from Kellogg at Northwestern.

Campaign website: yonifor12.com

Facebook: @yonifor12

Twitter: @yonipizer

Instagram: @yonipizer

The Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Board sent candidates for the Illinois House of Representatives a list of questions to find out their views on a range of important issues facing the state of Illinois and their districts. Yoni Pizer submitted the following responses:

Please tell us about your civic work in the last two years, whether it’s legislation you have sponsored or work you have done in other ways to improve your community.

Over 5 years ago Congressman Mike Quigley reached out to me and enlisted me to be his community liaison for several key constituencies in his district. I have proudly served in this capacity as the eyes and ears of the congressman to the LGBTQ, Jewish and environmental communities. I regularly meet with community leaders to ensure their concerns are heard and Congressman Quigley champions their issues in Washington. I have hosted countless events; organized symposiums and roundtables; chaired fundraisers; given speeches to high school classes; and met with a wide array of constituent groups including LGBTQ veterans, Trans activists, HIV/AIDS healthcare providers and activists, Jewish religious leaders, and environmental activists. It has been my honor and privilege to work so closely with a Congressman whom I admire so much and whose work has had such a profound positive effect on our community, region and nation. In addition, my husband and I have hosted countless educational and fundraising events for progressive causes and also local, state, and national politicians.

Please list three concerns that are specific to your district, such as a project that should be undertaken or a state policy related to an important local issue that should be revised.

Top concerns that are specific to my district include advancing LGBTQ equality and representation; small business support and job creation; and ethics and government reform.

What are your other top legislative priorities?

My top legislative priorities are the repeal of the parental notification law, the passage of meaningful ethics reform, and the implementation of legislation which supports our small businesses and promotes job growth. As someone whose mother volunteered as a pregnancy counselor in a Planned Parenthood clinic, I understand how (and the American Academy of Pediatrics has shown) such notification laws can cause serious medical and psychological harm to adolescents. As someone who has worked closely with Congressman Quigley and his steadfast efforts to promote transparent and clean government, I realize the need to: ban state lawmakers from lobbying other local governments; empower the Inspector General to have more independence; and prohibit legislators from becoming lobbyists immediately after leaving office. As a small business owner, I appreciate their role in keeping our communities vibrant and our economy thriving.

What is your position on Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s proposed graduated income tax? Please explain.

Our current tax system needs to be reformed. Illinois is one of eight states that still uses a flat tax to fund its government. This tax structure has also led to underfunding for education, services, and healthcare while forcing middle class and poor people to pay a disproportionate share of the state’s tax revenue. Allowing Illinoisans to vote on the Fair Tax in November is a step in the right direction, but whatever the voters decide, there is more work to do. We need to provide middle-class families with property tax relief, while also putting Illinois on better fiscal footing, help generate the revenue to fund our schools, and allow the state to shift school funding away from dependence on property tax.

Illinois continues to struggle financially, with a backlog of unpaid bills that tops $6 billion. In addition to a progressive state income tax — or in lieu of such a tax — what should the state do to pay its bills, meet its pension obligations and fund core services such as higher education?

We need to explore all options in addition to the fair tax to ensure that we are addressing our backlog of bills. As an entrepreneur and small business owner, I understand the importance of balancing budgets and paying past-due bills while also prioritizing essential services. We can start by reforming the state’s sales tax policy by expanding the base to include more consumer services. However, we need to ensure that this expansion is mindful of the fundamental regressive nature of sales taxes. We also need to explore the revenue that can be brought in through the newly passed tax on cannabis sales as that market matures and revenues increase. We should always be looking for ways to find savings and efficiencies. The recently passed pension consolidation bill is one good example of this and I am eager to explore similar opportunities.

Should Illinois consider taxing the retirement incomes of its very wealthiest residents, as most states do? And your argument is?

For the last several budget cycles, Springfield has repeatedly brought up the possibility of taxing retirement income. Illinois is one of only three states with no tax on retirement income, regardless of its source. While there may be a strong argument to consider the possibility of taxing certain higher levels of retirement income, particularly those that come from pre-tax dollars, it’s clear that there simply isn’t the public or political support to explore this possibility. We should focus instead on more attainable goals such as a broadened sales tax base on services, targeted tax revenue sources such as the newly passed tax on cannabis sales, and other more sustainable funding sources rather than continuing to recycle wildly unpopular ideas with no chance of passage.

What can Illinois do to improve its elementary and high schools?

As a parent, I understand the critical importance of properly funding public education. Ensuring every student has access to top notch education is critically important for Illinois’ economic future. For years Illinois has funded its education system through local property taxes which has left many school districts behind and fueled inequality throughout our state. The new school funding formula that passed in 2017 has begun to rectify this inequity by providing more resources to underfunded school districts; it is encouraging that the state has met the increased funding goals the last two years. It is important that we continue doing so and adequately monitor the impact of these funding changes.

Mass shootings and gun violence plague America. What can or should the Legislature do, if anything, to address this problem in Illinois?

We need to do more to address gun violence here in Illinois. I believe we have a great opportunity to enact common-sense gun safety laws that most Illinois residents - including responsible gun owners - can agree on. We need to start by addressing the gaps in the FOID process to ensure that guns do not fall into the wrong hands and ensure all private gun sales require a background check. I would also support a ban on military style assault weapons and high capacity magazines, as these weapons of war do not belong in our neighborhoods.

Do you favor or oppose term limits for any elected official in Illinois? Please explain.

Without a doubt, our State must institute leadership term limits which will allow greater reforms and new approaches to be brought to the table. I believe strongly that elections are the best source of term limits and believe the last few election cycles are a perfect example of this given the degree of turnover in both chambers. The reality of term limits is that staff and lobbyists end up with far too much influence over the process when artificial turnover is enforced.

Everybody says gerrymandering is bad, but the party in power in every state — Democrats in Illinois — resist doing anything about it. Or do we have that wrong? What should be done?

To begin, a majority of Illinoisans are in favor of an Independent Map Commission. I support the use of an independent commission to draw map boundaries in Illinois. Voters need to know their vote counts and this will ensure that every voice is heard at the ballot box. We also need to ensure that this process is transparent and public input is guaranteed.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago is investigating possible official corruption by state and local officials. This prompted the Legislature to pass an ethics reform measure to amend the Lobbyist Registration Act (SB 1639). It was signed into law in December. What’s your take on this and what more should be done?

I applaud the legislature for taking steps to tackle corruption in Illinois with the Lobbyist Registration Act. Creating more transparency in regard to how lobbyists operate in Springfield is an important step in the right direction. However, we need to do more. We need to eliminate conflicts of interest that are part of daily life in the capital. We can do this by banning local officials from acting as lobbyists to local government. There is something inherently wrong about elected officials who we empower to govern their district also lobbying local officials on behalf of special interests. We also need to tackle the revolving door in Springfield by supporting a cooling-off period where elected officials cannot quickly become lobbyists after they leave office. I would also support empowering the inspector general to have more independence when investigating cases of corruption. The current law requiring the Legislative Inspector General to seek permission from the leadership appointed Legislative Ethics Commission before opening most investigations is the most egregious example of needed change.

When people use the internet and wireless devices, companies collect data about us. Oftentimes, the information is sold to other companies, which can use it to track our movements or invade our privacy in other ways. When companies share this data, we also face a greater risk of identity theft. What should the Legislature do, if anything?

Consumers deserve the right to know where their data is going and how it is being used. They also should have the right to privacy in the information age. As State Representative I would support HB3358, which creates the Data Transparency and Privacy Act. This bill would force entities to disclose to individual consumers the information that they are collecting and allow the consumer to opt out of the potential sale of their information. I would also support HB2785 which states that a private entity may not collect, use or store location data unless it receives consent from the user.

The number of Illinois public high school graduates who enroll in out-of-state universities continues to climb. What can Illinois do to make its state universities more attractive to Illinois high school students?

To begin, we need to fight to make our universities stronger and opportunities to attend more certain. The recent budget that passed has started to repair the damage of the budget impasse during Governor Rauner’s tenure. But we need to do more. We need to reverse the trend of our students attending college outside of Illinois. Students need to have the certainty that they are receiving an affordable and good education. We can build upon the investments made in the recent budget by increasing funding to higher education, work to fully fund map grants and aim high grants to encourage students to stay in state.

What is your top legislative priority with respect to the environment?

The federal government is failing to act on climate change and its incumbent upon the state of Illinois to step up to the plate. My top legislative priority with respect to the environment is passing the Clean Energy Jobs Act HB3624. The Clean Jobs Energy Act puts Illinois on a path to 100% renewable energy by 2050. It will help create new jobs, train workers, incentivize electric vehicle adoption, and make solar accessible to more communities. I also support HR185, the effort to provide capital investment to conserve lands in Illinois, and HB3349, the effort to empower Illinois communities to install and upgrade vital water infrastructure while creating good-paying jobs.

What historical figure from Illinois, other than Abraham Lincoln (because everybody’s big on Abe), do you most admire or draw inspiration from? Please explain.

I admire and draw inspiration from Mayor Harold Washington, and I was proud to support him. As the first African-American Mayor of Chicago, he exemplified what it means to fight for our shared progressive values such as racial justice, economic opportunity, and clean and transparent government. He also led with grace and humility while keeping his sense of humor, even in the most challenging of circumstances.

What’s your favorite TV, streaming or web-based show of all time. Why?

Seinfeld. The ability to find humor in the simplest (and at times most absurd) situations can help one keep life’s challenges in proper perspective.